Film Screening: AKA Doc Pomus

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will host a film screening of Doc Pomus documentary,

AKA Doc Pomus Interview with film director William Hechter will follow film

WHAT: Film screening of Peter Miller and William Hechter’s AKA Doc Pomus (2012, 98 minutes), a documentary about the legendary songwriter Doc Pomus

WHEN: Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Foster Theater

MORE INFO: The evening will culminate with an interview with William Hechter, the film's director

TO RSVP: This event is FREE with a reservation through the Rock Hall website at https://tickets.rockhall.com or at the Rock Hall Box Office. Seating is limited. Rock Hall Members can RSVP starting at 10amEST on Monday, January 6. Non-Rock Hall members can RSVP starting at 10amEST on Tuesday, January 7.

About the FilmFor music fans that have come to love hits such as “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and many others very few know the story of the man behind those hits. Jerome Solon Felder, AKA Doc Pomus, was the man behind those mega hits and emerged as one of the key figures in popular music and of the early rock and roll era. The Brooklyn-born Felder was paralyzed by polio as a child and for most of his life was confined to crutches and a wheelchair, but in his sixty-five years of life enjoyed great success and is inducted to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992, as a non-performer), the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), and the Blues Hall of Fame (2012).

Peter Miller and William Hechter’s remarkable history in AKA Doc Pomus takes the viewer from Felder’s early beginnings, reinvention as a blues singer, his songwriting heyday, and his later years as a songwriting mentor and advocate for repressed rhythm and blues artists. The film features interviews with Doc’s collaborators and friends, including Dr. John, Ben E. King, Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Dion, Leiber and Stoller, and B.B. King.

With passages from Doc’s private journals being read by Lou Reed, AKA Doc Pomus is a gripping biographical film with a story that introduces a unique American treasure to a new, much wider audience.

What Others Are Saying about AKA Doc Pomus:

“If you love stories about the music business you’ll certainly be entertained, but AKA Doc Pomus is intrinsically compelling because it charts the life of such a singular man. He was definitely one of a kind.”

-Leonard Maltin, Indiewire

“Making use of an incredible archive of stills, video and sound recordings (including interviews with some of the pre-eminent composers, lyricists and musicians of the past 60 years)…the film is inspirational both in its subject and its composition.”

-James Eliopulos, The Los Angeles Beat

“…the pic thrusts a forgotten pioneer back into the limelight while illuminating a part of rock history.”

-Ronnie Scheib, Variety

“…a film that tells the story of a remarkable life and career in wonderfully entertaining fashion.”